JULIA VON EICHEL AND ERNST FISCHER, DIVINE DISRUPTION

Julia von Eichel creates her architectonic sculptures with mylar, plastic, glue, wood, silk, acrylic, and thread. Ethereal, ghost-like, and delicate, her transparent works have a modern architectural austerity, exemplified particularly in those made with clear plexiglass containers, but also in her jagged cloud-like wall reliefs. A dependence upon the white wall renders her works barely visible, as if the artist wants to camouflage them with light, in this case taking advantage of Richard Meier’s own dedication to the color.

Von Eichel’s ornate sculptures are hand-made; they were conceived of in her studio during a period of intense personal loss. Intuitively formed, they have an almost supernatural perfection, as if defying gravity. In her latest work, she’s constructed complex armatures with wood dowels, wiffle balls, string and thread tightly covered with gessoed silk. The prickly surface conceals the inner structure, stretched taught upon the assemblage beneath, like skin.

About the Artist

Julia von Eichel (b. St. Gellen, Switzerland) has shown her work in solo exhibitions at Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York; Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York, Lucien Terras, New York. She has forthcoming shows at Winston Wachter Gallery, New York, as well as a group show at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA. Group exhibitions include Drawn to Detail, curated by Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum; Infinite Line, curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, Brick Rotunda Gallery; and Contemporary Watercolors, curated by Veronica Roberts, Morgan Lehman Gallery. Her work is in numerous public and private collections including Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and the Ritz Carlton.